Make An Offer

House beautiful, this isn't: The yard is overgrown, the windows are boarded up, there's a big gash in the first-floor ceiling and the roof has holes. Mark Whitten was delighted. The real estate investor, who looks for homes he can flip to landlords and rehabbers, figured he could immediately find a buyer for the vacant North Baltimore rowhouse, probably someone who would fix it up and rent it out. "I'm going to make an offer and try to get this property under contract today," Whitten, 29, said as he walked through the derelict home last week.

I guess the Yankees needed another weak-armed center fielder to replace Bernie Williams, who will DH. Johnny Damon will be a smart addition for a few years, but his arm, age and declining defensive skills will become more of an issue before the contract expires, and he will be ill-suited as a corner outfielder. But in the meantime, the New York media will have all sorts of fun with him, and he'll distract some of Derek Jeter's teenage stalkers. Still waiting for the Jeff Conine signing to become official.

Residents of the Eastern Shore community of Still Pond have taken the first step toward establishing a nonprofit organization in hopes of saving a historic market and post office that was heavily damaged by fire last fall. The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation approved the paperwork on Friday creating Still Pond Preservation Inc., allowing the group to bid for the 19th-century building that stands in a National Historic District in Kent County. The historic designation established in 2009 does not protect the building from destruction, and the owners have a demolition permit that they can use starting on Monday.

It will be interesting to see if the Ravens re-sign starting right tackle Tony Pashos. One thing about the Ravens, they don't have a history of overpaying right offensive tackles. Pashos played better than anybody expected last season, and you have to admire his work ethic. He's not very athletic, but he put in extra time as far as dieting and in the weight room to become a decent player. The Ravens will make him an offer (they'll low-ball him at first, as usual), but they are prepared to move on without him. They believe the league has quite a few right tackles with Pashos' ability, and they won't have to overpay.

Financier Carl C. Icahn's $450 million bid for Pan Am Corp. is being dismissed by most industry experts, but some think it may trigger a new round of bidding for the troubled airline.The bid by Mr. Icahn, chairman of Pan Am competitor Trans World Airlines, would be activated only if Pan Am's existing $400 million deal with United Airlines falls apart. That deal, for Pan Am's London routes and other assets, is to be completed by midnight tomorrow.Karen Firestone, airline analyst for Fidelity Investments in Boston, said an Icahn purchase of Pan Am is unlikely, but "everyone else is making an offer, so why shouldn't Icahn?

How can my parents help me buy a home?One way parents can help is by giving their children money for a down payment. The lender will require a gift letter that states that the money is a gift and doesn't have to be repaid.The entire down payment usually can't be a gift unless it amounts to 20 percent or more of the purchase price. If the gift is for less than 20 percent, many lenders require that at least 5 percent of the purchase price be the borrowers' own money. Lenders also require that the borrowers have had that money in their own bank account for several months.

TIP 5 IRS cuts the recession-ridden a little bit of slack Would you believe a kindler, gentler Internal Revenue Service? The agency says it is cutting some slack now for those who owe back taxes given the economic turmoil. Among the promised changes: * Suspension of collection actions if you lost a job, rely solely on Social Security or welfare income, suffer a "devastating illness" or have huge medical bills. * More flexibility if you can't keep up with your installment payments on back taxes because you lost your job or had some other hardship.

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- The Ravens' bid to trade down on the first round of the draft from the fourth to the 11th slot with the Seattle Seahawks for two extra draft picks stalled yesterday.With Seattle balking at giving up a second-round pick, the two sides called a halt to the talks and plan to resume discussions Monday by telephone.The Seahawks are trying to sell the Ravens on different concepts that would allow them to retain a second-round pick, including swapping Seattle's second-round pick, which is the ninth pick of the second round, for the pick the Ravens got from Denver, the 28th of the round.

Icelandair quitting BWI Icelandair has become the latest international carrier to end service at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. When the airline halts its Baltimore flights Jan. 13, six international carriers would remain at BWI. Icelandair will keep its North American headquarters in Columbia. Homes sales fall about 30% Home sales in metropolitan Baltimore tumbled again in November, the third consecutive month that sales have dropped about 30 percent. Prices also fell slightly as the market headed into the traditionally slow holiday selling season.

Leonard "Boogie" Weinglass, a former Baltimorean, businessman and a model for a character in the movie "Diner," is exploring the possibility of buying the Orioles.Weinglass revealed his interest last night on a sports talk show on WCAO-AM radio hosted by Stan "The Fan" Charles.Weinglass was unavailable for comment this morning, but an assistant in his Joppa office said, "This is very much in the preliminary stages. He's interested, but he's got a lot of research to do."New York investor Eli S. Jacobs, who owns the controlling share of the Orioles, is considering selling the baseball team he bought in 1989.